Bass In Your Face For A Good Cause: DJ-athon At Laszlo

Get down on a sultry Sunday afternoon for a good cause? Where do we sign up? Foreign Cinema’s Laszlo Bar. On Sunday, July 12, the watering hole plays host to a stellar crew of Bay Area DJs intent on easing your way out of the weekend with delectable hip-hop, electro, indie, and club sounds – all for a good cause: the Narada Michael Walden Foundation, which promotes music education among Bay Area youth.

The local lady behind the wheels o’ steel that you’ll want to catch is DJ Zita, who plans to deliver body-rockin’ hip-hop, trunk-bumpin’ funk, reggae riddims, and smooth grooves. Zita has been doing the do since she first broke out the little old plastic Fisher-Price record player to spin Salt-N-Pepa and Lisa Lisa 12-inches as a tot. Since then she’s established Hawaii’s first all-female DJ collective; co-founded Bay Area Sistah Sound, NorCal’s number one estrogen-enhanced woman DJ crew; and performed alongside sisters in spin like Pam the Funkstress of the Coup.

Bay beat peddlers Kool Karlo (known for his regular nights at Butter and Ambassador) will bring the breakbeat and Italian pop, while DJ Fox will mix club and fusion sonics -- along with local DJs Mike Apocalypse, Haightin’ Clayton, and DJ Green B -- in tasty 30-minute sets that should make Sunday go down nice and easy. Bar manager Bryan Ranere has also dreamed up the perfect accompaniment to the evening’s beats: the night’s special cocktail, Don’t Look Back, blends Reposado tequila and passion fruit in tasty tribute to D.A. Pennebacker’s 1967 doc on a young, feisty, pre-electric Bob Dylan. All proceeds from the beverage will go to the foundation, which was started in 2004 by Grammy award-winning producer, songwriter, and musician Narada Michael Walden.